The Senate and House agreed on a last minute deal that reopened the government and postponed defaulting on our national debt. The bill combined a continuing resolution, funding the government through mid January, and suspended the debt ceiling until February 7th. The agreement created a conference committee to negotiate a long-term budget by mid-December. The Senate voted 81-18, the House 285-144 to approve the deal. The 16 day government shutdown cost our economy an estimated $24 billion.

States spent millions to operate national parks during the federal shutdown and it’s not known if they will get paid back. Utah spent $1.6 million, Arizona $700,000, and Colorado, South Dakota, New York, Tennessee and North Carolina spent significant amounts to reopen national parks. Congress has to decide when and if they reimburse the money. The 800,000 federal workers furloughed during the shutdown received back pay. Congress continued to get their paychecks throughout the shutdown.

The deal also included a provision for a $1.2 billion funding increase to the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) for a troubled Ohio River navigation project, the Olmsted Dam, on the Illinois-Kentucky border. The project has seen construction cost estimates rise from $775 million in 1988 to $3 billion today. The construction costs were to be split 50-50 between federal tax dollars and navigation user fees. Under the House bill 75% of the costs will now be paid by federal tax dollars and in the Senate version 100% of the costs would be paid by federal tax dollars. The provision has been nicknamed “The Kentucky Kickback”.

Shutdown Cancels Meetings and a Missouri River Clean up

The government shutdown forced the ACEs’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Office to cancel five public meetings on the Draft Annual Operating Plan (AOP) at which they explain their proposed management for the coming year. Instead, the ACE held a conference call October 28th. In the 2013-2014 Draft AOP the ACE anticipates low runoff into the basin for the remainder of this year. The ACE expects system storage to be below the base of the annual flood control pool at the start of the 2014 runoff season, which begins March 1st. All the scenarios in the Draft AOP indicate reduced flow support for next year’s navigation season.

The shutdown forced the National Park Service (NPS) to cancel a Missouri River Clean up scheduled for October 5th near Niobrara, NE. The shutdown postponed a SD Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Committee meeting on October 9th in Huron. The shutdown also postponed a meeting to start the process of updating South Dakota’s Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan.

Missouri River Conditions Update

The ACE continues conservation measures on the Missouri River even with recent higher than average precipitation. October may end up being one of the five wettest Octobers on record. Heavy snow fell in portions of five states (see related items below). The Ace says runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City this year will now be near or even above average. Despite the wet fall the impacts of the widespread drought continue. The levels in the largest three reservoirs, Fort Peck, Sakakawea and Oahe, are still 3 to 10 feet below desired elevations. The ACE plans lower winter releases of 12,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Gavins Point Dam on the SD-NE border December through February. When adequate water exists in the system winter releases are 17,000 cfs, or higher.

Great Plains and Midwest Climate and Drought Webinar

In a webinar October 24th the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reviewed climate conditions in the upper Midwest. The October storms that hit portions of the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming raised soil moisture levels in those areas 2 to 3 inches above normal. That brought some areas out of drought conditions. The blizzard dropped over 4 feet of snow and caused the death of over 30,000 head of livestock in areas of Nebraska, South and North Dakota. Some ranchers lost a few head, others lost up to 70% of their herd. The heavy, wet snow, driven by 70 mile per hour winds, killed livestock by hypothermia and/or suffocation. The cattle industry said the direct economic impact of the loss could be half a billion dollars, the indirect impact may total $1.7 billion. Despite the wet conditions in portions of the basin the NWS said areas of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado are dry and some in extreme drought. The lack of a La Nina or El Nino weather pattern in the Pacific makes it difficult for forecasters to predict the type of winter the Missouri River Basin will experience.

Missouri River Ice Fishing Tournament to Offer Help to Ranchers

The Mobridge, SD Area Chamber of Commerce's Tourism Committee unanimously decided to donate the proceeds from a team spot in their 2014 Mobridge Ice Fishing Tournament to the West River Ranchers Relief Fund. Team #75 is the last available spot for the tournament. Team #25 - posted recently on Ebay - sold for $860. The tournament will be January 10-11 includes over $165,000 in prizes. To help ranchers affected by the recent storms, contact the SD Stock Growers Association at 605-342-0429.

2011 Missouri River Flood Repairs Continue

More than two years after the 2011 Missouri River Flood the ACE continues repairs to the Missouri River projects. Repairs include spillway gates, outlet works, scour areas, recreational facilities, roads and flood control structures damaged during the flood. The estimated cost of the remaining repairs is $234 million.

Also the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant north of Omaha has begun testing pressurized steam pipes as the power plant tries to reopen after more than two years. The Omaha Public Power District began the tests inside the plant, which has been closed since April 2011 after suffering flooding, a fire and safety violations. The closure has forced the utility to buy power from other companies and raise its rates.

Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC)

Members of the committee worked throughout October preparing for the next meeting November 5th-7th in Omaha. MRRIC provides recommendations to the ACE and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on the Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP). The MRRP restores the habitat needed by three listed species; the pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping plover that have declined due to the ACEs’ operation of the Missouri River. Habitat restoration will also benefit other fish and wildlife and improve recreational opportunities. I represent the Ikes on MRRIC and many of its work and task groups.

Kansas Looks to Missouri River for Irrigation WaterKansas officials, concerned about dropping water supplies and grain production, have gotten the ACE to re-evaluate a 1982 federal water supply study that proposed pumping billions of gallons of water from the Missouri River to farms across the state. The new analysis, to be completed in 2015, will reassess the Kansas Aqueduct - a project first looked at 31 years ago. The project would draw water from the Missouri River upstream of Kansas City into a 137 foot wide, 23 foot deep canal then with 16 different pumping stations lift it 1800 feet uphill to a reservoir 375 miles away.

The new study will cost $300,000 - shared equally by the state and the federal government. The project has a massive estimated cost of over $7 billion, not counting the needed secondary canals, as well as an estimated annual operating cost of $413 million. As much as 4 million acre-feet could be moved each year by the project. One acre foot is 326,000 gallons. A reservoir to hold the water would be needed.

The Missouri River states do not have a water compact so along with the huge cost opposition from neighboring states may also pose problems for the proposed project. Similar projects including a proposed pipeline from the Missouri River to Colorado’s Front Range is an example and states in the Mississippi River Basin would likely oppose such a large-scale water diversion. I’ll keep you posted on further developments.

Farm Bill Update

Now that Congress has, temporarily at least, gotten past their latest self inflicted wound - the shutdown and debt ceiling impasse - they may work to finalize the Farm Bill. The current bill expired September 30th. The Farm Bill funds agricultural subsidies, crop insurance, conservation programs, rural energy initiatives and the food stamp program. The Senate passed its version of the Farm Bill S. 954 with bipartisan support. Republican leaders in the House split the Farm Bill into farm and nutrition measures and passed them separately then combined the two into H.R. 2642.

A 41 member conference committee of House and Senate members is now trying to combine the two versions. Cuts to the food stamp program and differences in allocation farm subsidies are the major sticking points for the conferees. The Senate’s version contains a provision that re-links conservation requirements to protect wetlands and highly erodible soils to crop insurance premium subsidies. The Senate bill also has a nationwide Sodsaver provision removing financial incentives for landowners to convert native grassland to cropland. These provisions are strongly supported by the League and many other conservation groups. The House version does not contain either measure.

The League joined other groups on a letter of support to the conferees for the two provisions. The expiration of the Farm Bill closed all the conservation programs the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers to landowners. These programs, including the Conservation Reserve, Wetlands Reserve and Grassland Reserve Program help landowners conserve land for wildlife while also improving water and air quality. The USDA currently cannot enroll any new participants in the land conservation programs.

House Passes Water Development Act

On October 23rd the House decisively approved, by a 417-3 vote, a major piece of water legislation. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) (H.R. 3080). A major challenge awaits House and Senate conferees to reconcile the bill with a very different Senate version - the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) (S.601) passed in May. Both bills are troublesome to many conservation groups, including the League, because they include provisions accelerating timelines for environmental reviews of proposed projects. The provisions would limit review time to only 150 days and restrict the involvement of federal agencies and the public in the review process. The bills also increase funding for inland waterways and harbor maintenance projects. The country's aging and failing navigation system has an $8 billion project backlog. Currently the federal government splits the cost of navigation projects with the barge industry making it the highest transportation subsidy in the nation. Barge operators pay a 20-cent-per-gallon fuel tax into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. That does not raise enough money to cover their share of the split. The industry has proposed increasing the fuel tax by 6 to 9 cents a gallon. Neither version deals with the fuel tax or project funding question.

Important SD Pheasant Habitat Summit Scheduled

SD Governor Dennis Daugaard announced a Pheasant Habitat Summit will be held Friday, December 6, at the Crossroads Convention Center in Huron. The summit will include panel discussions and public input on ways to maintain and enhance habitat in the state. The Governor’s Pheasant Habitat Summit will provide landowners, hunters, and business owners a way to share thoughts on the importance of pheasant habitat to the state. Pheasants are big business in South Dakota. The SD Department of Tourism estimates pheasant hunting generates $223 million in retail economic impact annually and an additional $111 million in salaries annually - 4,500 jobs are directly linked to the pheasant hunting industry. The state’s pheasant population has fallen dramatically from a modern historic high just a few years ago. This is due poor reproduction, bad weather and most importantly the loss of nesting and winter habitat in the state. The Governor’s Pheasant Summit is open to the public but pre-registration is required. Register online at: http://gfp.sd.gov/pheasantsummit/ or call the Game, Fish and Parks Department at 605-773-3387. Please register and make plans to attend.

Invasive Weed Creeping North

Palmer amaranth, an invasive weed, is moving into the Midwest. The thick stemmed plant can grow 7 feet high and produce a million seeds a year. Herbicides aren’t an effective control on it. Ag researchers are concerned the plant could create significant losses in corn and soybean yields. Palmer amaranth was found in Iowa this summer. Cotton growers in the southern US spend over $100 million a year trying to control it. Add this one to the long and growing list of species the League is concerned about.

SD Ag Land Assessment Advisory Task Force Meets

On October 29th I attended the South Dakota Agricultural Land Assessment Implementation and Oversight Advisory Task Force meeting at the Capitol in Pierre. Task Force members adopted draft legislation that will be introduced in the 2014 SD Legislative Session. One bill they adopted is legislation to tax land for its actual use rather than its soil type as is the current practice. This could help save grassland from being converted to cropland as it removes one financial incentive to plow the prairie.

SD Ikes Directors Meet

On October 11th and 12th I was invited to attend the fall SD IWLA Director’s Meeting in Watertown. We heard updates from the directors and chapters on projects and other events. A good discussion was held on public access to non-meandered water in the state. This issue will be hotly debated in the upcoming SD legislative session. I updated them on the Missouri River Initiative. And planning for the 2015 National IWLA Convention began. The meeting will be held in Pierre in July, 2015.

And we’ll end with these two items…..

Favorite Hunting Coat and Cash Return to Owner

Owen Schipnewski of Clara City, MN is glad to have his favorite hunting coat, as well as what was in the pocket, back. Schipnewski was goose hunting in 2009 when he lost his favorite hunting coat, one he had worn for 25 years. Besides being his favorite he also had $1,700 in a wallet in the jacket. Schipnewski tossed the coat into the back of his truck when he went hunting. Schipnewski forgot about the coat but when he returned home that he discovered the coat, the $1,700, his driver’s license, credit cards, and a few shotgun shells were missing. He quickly retraced his steps but no luck.

This fall, four years later, Schipnewski received a call telling him his coat and all the money had been found. Trent Jorgenson found the coat four years ago when returning from hunting. He took it home, gave it a quick look, found only the shotgun shells and put the coat in his garage. Jorgenson never used the coat but didn’t throw it out. He boxed it up twice in moves to new homes. Jorgenson never thought about the coat until this fall when friends invited him hunting. He didn’t own a camouflage coat and decided to use the one he found. Jorgenson gave the coat another look before throwing it in the washing machine. This closer inspection turned up the wallet including the $1,700 in $20 and $100 bills.

After getting the call that he never thought he would get, Schipnewski drove to Jorgenson’s farm to retrieve his lost items. He offered Jorgenson a generous finder’s fee, but Jorgenson turned it down saying he was more than happy to “do the right thing”. But Schipnewski insisted on giving Jorgenson more than just a thank you so he’s going to buy him a gift - a new hunting coat.

Bowhunters “Catch and Release” an Elk

Bowhunters Jeff McConnell and Brant Hoover were hunting elk near McCall, Idaho when they saw an elk calf stuck in a mud wallow - its mother was standing close by. The two hunters quickly waded into the thigh-high mud to help worried the cow might charge them. The hunters eased the calf out until they were able to pull it out of the mud by her hind legs. The men said once the calf got completely out of the mud it looked back at them then trotted off into the trees to rejoin its mother. The hunters ended their catch-and-release elk hunt tired, covered in mud, but happy to have helped.